Hasta La Creative!

R/GA and the Ad Council launched a Fourth of July spot starring John Cena called “We Are America,” a continuation of the “Love Has No Labels” campaign discussing bias and diversity which they launched last March.

In the spot, the WWE star asserts that diversity and love for Americans of all types is at the heart of what the country is really about. During the ad Cena walks through a typical American town, whose inhabitants — including those of Latino, African American and Middle Eastern descent, as well as LGBT individuals — reflects the true diversity of the country. At the beginning of the spot, Cena defines patriotism as meaning “love and devotion to one’s country.”

He goes on to explore what that love means, and how the “average” American may be different tham what you picture from that term, deciding that, ultimately, “the freedom to celebrate the things that make us us” is as American as it gets. (Thankfully, he doesn’t ask if there’s anything more American than America.) Near the conclusion of the ad, he adds, “Patriotism shouldn’t just be about pride of country, it should be about love…beyond age, disability, sexuality, race, religion and any other labels, because the second any of us judge people based on any of those labels,” we’re not really being patriotic.

While perhaps a bit long in the tooth (the spot clocks in at over three minutes), the timely message of “We Are America” is a welcome and important one, with Cena’s spot-on delivery helping to hammer it home. Visually, shots of diverse Americans all gathered on a kind of Main Street, Everytown makes the perfect accompaniment to Cena’s passionate speech. That speech is convincing both for its statistical evidence of the true diversity of America and its evaluation of so-called patriotism that would exclude anyone based on a specific label as false patriotism. It may even succeed in convincing those who wrap up their bigotry in an American flag to reevaluate their priorities. That’s the hope at least.

“At a time when it feels hard for our country to find common ground, we need to remind audiences that to celebrate America is to celebrate all Americans. We’re so proud to continue the ‘Love Has No Labels’ message as part of the July 4 holiday and throughout the year,” Ad Council president and CEO Lisa Sherman told Adweek. “‘We Are America’ illuminates what we already know—that Americans today cover the full spectrum of age, sexuality, ability, race and religion. And this message is just as important now as ever.”

“Like last year, the power of the campaign came from its honesty. To celebrate the real America is to celebrate the real people that make up this country,” added R/GA global CCO Nick Law. “As someone who moved to the U.S. 22 years ago, I’ve benefited from the openness and generosity of this country. And it’s this inclusive spirit that now makes me proud.”

Credits:
Client: Ad Council
Priscilla Natkins, EVP, Director of Client Services
Heidi Arthur, SVP, Campaign Management
Trace Danicich, VP, Campaign Director
Jenn Walters, Campaign Director
Madeline Miller, Assistant Campaign Manager
Ellyn Fisher, SVP, PR and Social Media
Agency: R/GA
Nick Law, Vice Chairman, Global Chief Creative Officer
Eric Jannon, Group Executive Creative Director
Chris Northam, Group Executive Creative Director
Thomas Darlow, Associate Creative Director
Rene Van Wonderen, Associate Creative Director
Lucia Orlandi, Associate Creative Director
Paul Wood, Associate Creative Director
Eduardo Quadra, Associate Creative Director
Shashank Raval, Associate Creative Director
Bethany Kennedy, Senior Visual Designer
Ria McIlwraith, Designer
Tessa Ndiaye, Experience Designer
Emily Uram, Junior Art Director
Lukas Pearson, Junior Copywriter
Cindy Pound, Executive Production Director, Campaign
Jeff Skutnik, Executive Campaign Producer
Lucas Dennison, Digital Producer
Dylan Viner, Group Director, Strategy
Dave Surgan, Strategy Director
Emily Kearns, Senior Social Strategist
Amy McEwan, Strategist
Micah Topping, Executive Technology Director
Josh Hansen, Lead Architect
Steve Tsai, Senior QA Engineer
Wade Wojcak, Senior Software Engineer
Daniel Diez, EVP Global Chief Marketing Officer, Executive Management
Suzanne McGee, Director, PR
Stephen Bernstein, Director, Business Affairs
Kat Friis, Executive Production Director, Content
Leanne Diamond, Post Producer
Ashlye Vaughan, Senior Content Producer
Joanne Rotella, Senior Manager, Business Affairs
Shima Green, Stills Photographer
Madeline Gioia, Coordinator, Business Affairs
William Morel, Art Producer
Danielle Sessler, Associate Producer
Shakirah Tabourn, Production Assistant
Production Company – MJZ
Director – Rocky Morton
Executive Producer – Emma Wilcockson
Line Producer – Larry Shure
Director of Photography – David Lanzeberg
Editorial – Rock Paper Scissors
Editor – Dan de Winter
Original Music – Human/ Phillip Glass
color- Nice Shoes, Chris Ryan
Flame: Nice Shoes –Jason Farber
Mix: Nylon studios, Dave Robertson

The Ad Council teamed up with San Francisco-based agency Pereira & O’Dell for a series of new PSAs promoting the recycling of bathroom products for Keep America Beautiful, with funding by Unilever.

Based on research showing that, while recycling of kitchen items has become commonplace, 45 percent of Americans aren’t recycling their bathroom products, the new ads hope to change this behavior with a series of broadcast and digital spots functioning as an extension of the ongoing “I Want To Be Recycled” campaign. The ads are narrated by shampoo bottles who dream of being recycled into something more. In “Smile,” the shampoo bottle just wants to be noticed. After being tossed in the recycling bin, the bottle returns as a hair brush to “make people smile.” Things get a bit more over-the-top in “Superhero,” when another shampoo bottle dreams of becoming a superhero and decides, after being recycled as a comb, that this mission has been accomplished. Both spots end by directing viewers to IWantToBeRecycled.org for more info and an interactive recycling game.

“Washing your hair, putting on deodorant, applying skin cream — common bathroom activities — are all associated with packaging that can be recycled,” PJ Pereira, chief creative officer and co-founder of Pereira & O’Dell, said in a statement. “The new creative aims to change people’s mindsets about recycling in the bathroom. While we use all these personal care products to take care of ourselves, we can also help take care of the world by making sure the products we use in the bathroom make it to the recycling bin. The spots continue to demonstrate how you can give your garbage another life by recycling.”

Credits:

Client/Brand: Keep America Beautiful/Recycling
Client Brand Manager: Advertising Council
Agency: Pereira & O’Dell
Chief Creative Officer: PJ Pereira
Executive Creative Director: Jaime Robinson
Creative Director, Copywriter: Eduardo Marques
Creative Director, Art Director: Rafael Rizuto
Copywriter: Sara Uhelski
Art Director: Leila Moussaoui
Project Manager: Adam Russel
Account Director: Ashley Brown
Senior Account Executive: Jennifer Wantuch
Vice President, Director of Strategy: Nick Chapman
Strategist: Beth Windheuser
Executive Producer: Jeff Ferro
Broadcast Producer: Judy Kreiter
Production by Hello!
Director: Graeme Joyce
Executive Producer: Mike Brady
Head of Production: Dominick Ferro
Producer: Valerie Thomas
Editorial by Cut & Run
Editor: Sean Stender
Executive Producer: Carr Schilling
Producer: Remy Foxx
Music
Composer: Skylar Bishil
VFX/Online Finishing by SpyPost
Colorist: Chris Martin
Executive Producer: Lori Joseph
Sound Design & Mixing by One Union
Lead Mixer / Sound Designer: Matt Zipkin
Producer: Lauren Mask

Parents grow increasingly frustrated as Siri-type phone assistants misunderstand their requests in a pair of 60-second Advertising Council PSAs from Publicis Kaplan Thaler.

The goal is to build empathy for kids with learning and attention disorders—watch the ads to see how—and to introduce Understood.org, a cooperative effort among several nonprofits providing access to support and resources. A print ad reinforces the theme, showing a notebook page with a child’s writing that’s been erased many times, while the words “I want to be understood” remain.

“Put yourself in children’s shoes, and you can truly understand their frustration,” says agency creative director Laura Kirschner, whose young son struggles with such issues. It’s a sharp approach, skipping familiar images of kids struggling to read or comprehend their schoolwork in favor of a deeper narrative about the importance of communication and connection.

“The crux of the campaign is that understanding is everything,” Kirschner says.

That message comes through loud and clear.

Remember the "Chimpanzee Riding on a Segway" song from way back in 2010? How about the theme song from Buffy the Vampire Slayer from the 1990s? Parry Gripp was the songwriter behind the simian parody, and the frontman of onetime geek-rock band Nerf Herder, which created the intro music for the supernatural TV show. Now, he's expanding his offbeat oeuvre into anti-asthma PSAs with a series of songs performed by a group of puppets named The Breathe Easies.

Created with agency The Barbarian Group for the Ad Council, the spots, running on radio and online in English and Spanish, feature titles like "Clean Up the Mold" and "Don't Smoke in the House." The lyrics include gems like, "Don't break my heart with your second-hand smoke"—an Auto-Tuned solo, of course. The bright pastels and tongue-in-cheek presentation—Pee-wee's Playhouse meets Sesame Street—succeed at making sad and gross subject matter less off-putting. And it's hard to blame them for playing the unapologetically cheesy jingle angle, given that the cause would be all but invisible otherwise.

And who doesn't want to spend the rest of the day humming to themselves about vacuuming the floor—especially if the alternative is singing about a cookie or a pickup truck?

The new man-in-a-furry-suit-and-big-ass-jeans incarnation of Smokey Bear is all about huggin' and lovin' strangers he meets in the woods. These days, who isn't? (Well, OK, Purity Bear for one.) Draftfcb in Los Angeles created this integrated Smokey campaign for the Ad Council and the U.S. Forest Service, and as always, the goal is conveying information on how to prevent forest fires. There are TV and radio spots, as well as print, outdoor and digital elements, including the hashtag #SmokeyBearHugs. Past versions of the iconic bear—and there have been many since the character was introduced in 1944—would cry, nag, lecture or simply stare down campers while brandishing a shovel to make a point about fire safety. (The recent CGI Smokey was a preachy douche.) Now, Huggy Smokey Bear literally embraces those who act responsibly, holding them lovingly in his ursine arms. At least he doesn't grin and bare it. The hugees mostly look uncomfortable and make weird faces. Perhaps they're mortified to be in such goofy PSAs.

CREDITS
Campaign: Smokey Bear/Wildfire Prevention

Client: The Advertising Council
Senior Vice President, Group Campaign Director: Michelle Hillman
Vice President, Campaign Director: Amy Gibson-Grant
Campaign Manager: Ricki Kaplan
Assistant Campaign Manager: Kristin Ellis

Client: U.S. Forest Service
Fire Prevention Program Manager: Helene Cleveland
Acting Fire Prevention Program Manager: Gwen Beavans

Client: National Association of State Foresters
Director of Communications: Genevieve O’Sullivan

Agency: Draftfcb, Los Angeles
Chief Creative Officer: Eric Springer
Executive Vice President, Executive Creative Director: Michael Bryce
Senior Vice President, Group Creative Director: Jeff Maerov
Copywriter: Nick Micale
Art Director: Patrick Moore
Vice President, Executive Producer: Thomas Anderson
Producer: Jeffrey Perino
Executive Vice President, Group Management Director: Yolanda Cassity
Vice President, Management Director: Leila Cesario
Account Executive: Jennifer Levin

Production: Park Pictures
Directors: Terri Timely (Ian Kibbey, Corey Creasy)
Creative Consultant: Lance Acord
Executive Producer, Owner: Jackie Kelman Bisbee
Executive Producer: Mary Ann Marino
Head of Production: Anne Bobroff
Producer: Valerie Romer

Editing: Butcher
Editor: Teddy Gersten
Assistant Editor: Leah Turner
Producer: Chrissy Hamilton
Executive Producer: Rob Van

Effects: D Train (Smokey)
Creative Director: Ben Gibbs
Effects Supervisor: Jan Cillers
Producer: Shelby Wong
Coordinator: Chelsea Brewer

Effects: Alterian (Smokey)
Creature Effects, Smokey Suit Designer: Tony Gardner